Freight Forwarding Operations Manager Jobs in Ripon, CA

Position Summary

The Wholesale Customer Operations Manager is the operational backbone of DWN's Branch 40 wholesale channel. This role operates at the intersection of sales, production, logistics, and finance, with the purpose of keeping wholesale customer commitments, production realities, and internal operational execution aligned. Success in this role results in retail nursery and garden-center customers experiencing DWN as accurate, reliable, and easy to do business with.

This role complements the Sales Operations Director and wholesale sales reps by focusing on coordination, planning, and problem-solving so that the sales team can focus on selling. It is a strong second-in-command to the Sales Director on all wholesale operations matters and the single channel through which customer delivery information enters the shipping process.

Lead or support special projects, process improvement initiatives, and other responsibilities as assigned by the Wholesale Sales Director to meet evolving business needs and wholesale channel objectives.

Strategic Context

Wholesale is a distinct go-to-market approach at DWN. Branch 40 sells trees to retail nurseries and garden centers, vs. commercial orchard growers. Order profiles are long (wide varieties per PO), shipments often combine products from multiple DWN locations, and customers care intensely about labeling accuracy, variety naming, caliber, format, and on-time arrival into their own seasonal sales windows.

DWN is simultaneously completing the migration from a legacy inventory and ERP system to a modernized, integrated inventory, sales, and ERP system. This role is expected to operate fluently across the new system stack and to actively shape how wholesale availability, allocation, and fulfillment are run inside it.

Role Overview

Customer Readiness, Order Coordination & Fulfillment

•         Maintain a live view of wholesale customer readiness: order status, inventory, deposits, and delivery timing.

•         Coordinate shipping priorities with logistics, production, and sales - including mixed loads from multiple DWN locations.

•         Responsible for the single channel for customer delivery information into shipping. Reps manage relationships; this role manages commitments.

•         Partner with other functions proactively and collaboratively to ensure DWN as a whole is on the same page regarding the sales administration efforts.

Inventory & Availability Coordination

•         Manage wholesale product allocation against open orders by variety, rootstock, caliper, and format.

•         Run and distribute wholesale availability, open-order, and product-locator reports.

•         Manage substitutions and shortages: align rep and customer on alternatives; document changes through to invoice.

•         Feed wholesale order trends, seasonal patterns, and customer history into production planning conversations.

Order Administration & Process Integrity

•         Ensure quote = contract = invoice. Deposits reflected. Freight and assessments are disclosed up front. Payment terms match customer status.

•         Track deposits and prepayments with finance. Send credit applications to new and PR accounts before commitments.

•         Document all order modifications (cancellations, substitutions, quantity, dates) with timestamps and notification to sales, production, logistics, and finance.

•         Run the pre-send invoice checklist on every wholesale invoice.

Sales Director Support & Channel Coordination

•         Provide the administrative backbone that lets wholesale reps focus on relationships and revenue.

•         Support wholesale sales plans and territory coverage with the Sales Operations Director. Surface risks and at-risk accounts.

•         Participate and drive trade shows, customer events, and field days end-to-end: planning, logistics, materials, follow-up, and lead capture.

•         Support territory alignment and rep assignment discussions.

•         Coordinate with the Commercial Customer Operations Manager on logistics windows and production constraints.

Production Alignment & Inventory Awareness

•         Work with the Director of Production on crop status, availability, and constraints across wholesale lines.

•         Translate production data into reports that support wholesale commitments and delivery planning.

•         Participate in seasonal planning across bareroot (Dec–Mar) and potted (Apr–Jun, Sep–Dec) cycles.

Systems, Reporting & Continuous Improvement

•         Develop, monitor, and report key wholesale operational KPIs, including order accuracy, invoice accuracy, on-time delivery, fill rates, open-order aging, customer readiness, and allocation performance. Use reporting insights to identify trends, surface risks, and drive continuous improvement initiatives.

•         Support commission and royalty reporting with the Director of FP&A.

•         Document tribal knowledge into SOPs. Propose improvements prioritized by customer impact.

Executive & Customer Issue Support

•         Partner with the Sales Operations Director and CEO to resolve complex or sensitive wholesale accounts.

•         Provide options and coordination so leadership can decide quickly with full information.

•         Escalate communications that shift from problem-solving to documentation-building before responding further.

Experience & Capabilities

Required

•         Experience in nursery, greenhouse, or agricultural operations supporting customers, production, and fulfillment.

•         Working knowledge of live-goods production cycles and perishable-product customer readiness.

•         Proven multi-line order coordination across multiple ship origins.

•         High detail and follow-through. Wholesale orders live or die on the accuracy of tagging, caliper, rootstock, and format.

•         Calm, clear communicator across sales, production, logistics, finance, and sophisticated customers.

• Comfortable with learning ERP and reporting systems.

Preferred

•         Inventory allocation, availability reporting, and substitution management for diverse catalogs.

•         ERP migration or stabilization exposure (Business Central, NetSuite, or equivalent).

•         Familiarity with retail nursery / garden-center customers, mail-order/eCommerce fulfillment, or ornamental tree categories.

•         CRM experience and customer data management proficiency (Salesforce, HubSpot, Microsoft Dynamics, or equivalent), including customer account maintenance, opportunity tracking, customer communications, and reporting.

•         Trade-show and event coordination experience.

•         Degree in Horticulture, Agriculture, Business, or related field helpful, not required.

Success Indicators — First 12 Months

•         Zero loads built around unconfirmed orders.

•         Availability and product-locator reports running reliably in the new system stack.

•         Wholesale invoice errors and paperwork questions have been materially reduced.

•         Reps treat the role as the trusted single channel; production and logistics get complete information.

•         Trade shows and customer events planned, executed, and followed up systematically.

•         Documented SOPs in place for quote-to-invoice, order modification, substitution, confirmation, and close.